Improvement of the wear resistance of titanium alloyed with boron nitride by electron beam irradiation

Abstract

Surface alloying of commercially pure titanium was carried out with an electron beam (EB) apparatus using a boron nitride powder which was previously deposited on its surface by Atmospheric Plasma Spraying (APS) in order to produce a composite layer with high wear resistance. Electron beam surface alloying is an important surface engineering routine that involves melting of a pre-deposited layer or concomitantly added alloying elements/compounds with a part of the underlying substrate by direct energy electron beam irradiation to form an alloyed zone characterized by a novel microstructure and composition. The present study is concerned with the influences of EB-remelting process on the wear resistance of the alloyed titanium material. The microstructure, corrosion resistance and phase analysis were also examined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), light microscopy (LM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were performed to characterize the phase modification and morphology after the EB treatment. The sliding wear as well as the hardness of the remelted material was significantly improved (in comparison with pure Ti) through this alloying technique. The corrosion behaviour of the modified surfaces was compared with that of Ti in order to demonstrate that its initial good corrosion resistance is not strongly influenced due to surface alloying.